It's a fair cop for Baker – just what the Doctor might have ordered

Some actors are keen to distance themselves from their most popular roles. When Christopher Eccleston was in Yorkshire playing Hamlet, he made it very clear that he did not want to discuss playing the timelord. Baker clearly has no such reticence.

"Oh I loved my time on Doctor Who, loved it, for three years it was among the happiest times of my career," he says, volunteering information before he is even asked about it.

Baker is coming to York Grand Opera House next month, bringing his version of grumpy TV detective Inspector Morse to the stage.

Famously played by John Thaw for 13 years, Inspector Morse has been given a new life in the theatre with the Yorkshire dates part of a national tour.

"It's a little like taking on the role of Doctor Who, the knack is not to try to follow in the footsteps of the person who has gone before you," says Baker. "I could never fill John's shoes, he was wonderful in the role, but I look different, I am different.

"What I had to do was go to the books and find the character for myself. There are certain things that people will recognise and that I have found important to playing him. His meanness, the appalling way he treats women, and Lewis."

The production, which comes 35 years after Morse was first introduced to the world through Colin Dexter's novel Last Bus to Woodstock, is House of Ghosts. Creator Dexter has given his blessing to the show, which has been written by Alma Cullen, who wrote four of the TV episodes of Morse.

Baker says: "It's a really wonderful story. We begin with a production of Hamlet and Morse is investigating a murder involving a theatre director called Laurence Baxter.

"The set is wonderful and it's a production I'm really proud to be a part of."

Baker was last on stage in York five years ago, when he appeared in HMS Pinafore and, as much as he loves being on stage, he makes no attempt to hide the fact that, actually, his role as Doctor Who is something he craves for these days. With more than a hint of nostalgia, he says: "I would really love to have a good TV role, something I could really get my teeth into. Unfortunately, it's the province of people in their twenties and thirties these days. People my age don't get a look in – and one has to work.

"I love theatre, I really do, but that's not to say that I wouldn't really love a nice, interesting part on television."

Baker played Doctor Who from 1984 to 1986, winning fans around the world for his arch, sassy portrayal of the iconic figure.

What does he make of the men who have taken on the mantle in recent years with the newly energised BBC series?

"I am completely knocked out by the new lot," he says.

"I'm quite envious of all the things they are able to do, with the special effects and everything and I think Russell T Davies has done a wonderful job as the producer. When I see Matt Smith, I do think that he is very young – can't we have an older Doctor?

"The thing that I'm most envious of, however, is the care that the BBC takes of it these days. When I was in it, the show was as popular, in terms of viewing figures, as it is today, but it seemed to be something that the BBC was almost embarrassed of. That's the only sadness I have about my time in the show."

It may be surprising that Baker is so forthcoming with his opinions, but it's something he is used to doing – for the past 17 years he has written a weekly column for his local newspaper in Berkshire, The Bucks Free Press.

"It all started when I wrote a letter to the paper 17 years ago and the editor wrote to ask me if I would like to write a column and I've done that, weekly, ever since," says Baker.

"I have just written this week's and I've sounded off about student loans and how appalling the system is. Lots of people have to deal with things like that and all they can do is get to the point where they are so frustrated they think their brain will explode – I get to write it

down and get it all out. It's a great release valve."

It seems that, while he might play an angry Morse quite well, the dourness the late John Thaw brought to the role will not be evident when Baker brings his Inspector to York.

n House of Ghosts, York Grand Opera House, September 16 to 18. Tickets 0844 847 2322.